Title of a 1930s Soviet poster:
Breast - Wikipedia (NSFW)
What I want to know is why the poster goes on to say:
Why in the name of Lenin are they advocating this? Are hard nipples something you want? Are they taking “tough titty” too literally? I do not comprehend.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with hard nipples… is it cold in here to you?
Just thought it might be worth mentioning that the OP’s link contains pictures of naked breasts, and although I don’t consider that a bad thing, it may not be considered appropriate in all settings - may not be safe for work, for example.
I think the idea behind the nipple hardening thing was to prevent some potential problems in breastfeeding.
Ah, yes – sorry about that. I should’ve disarticulated the URL.
I’ve reported the post so that a mod can append a NSFW warning (if the deem it necessary), but it’s pictures of breasts - don’t be too sorry.
Yeah, I think its a breastfeeding thing. In the Soviet era women were encouraged to have zillions of children – there was even an award called “Hero-mother” for someone that had ten or so.
You can’t raise up the Worker of Tomorrow with soft, weak, bourgeois nipples.
Not to mention, when it’s cold, and you get “headlights”, you can end up with seriously chafed nipples! And it’s always cold there, if you believe the rumors. 
Why ask why? The important thing here is that this is one instance where Marxism/Leninism got things totally, 100% right. Prominent, cold-water-hardened nipples are the cornerstone of a happy, productive proletariat. In fact, if we were to research it, I bet we could trace the eventual downfall of the Soviet Union to a relaxation of this vital discipline.
I think you are right…and based on my experience with my last baby, I wouldn’t consider it bad advice, either. 
I made the link unclickable and added a NSFW tag.
It is quite the surprise when you get to the page, isn’t it?
All I have to say is that I find myself oddly interested in this particular Wikipedia page…
…I can’t put my tongue…er finger on it…
I take excellent care of my breasts. I wash and comb the hair on them everyday. I only style it for special occasions though. And don’t go poo-pooing me either. It took a long time to get them just the right size with a lovely salt and pepper mane on each one.
…Thank you, Omegaman.
(To paraphrase Teri Hatcher: my breasts are real, and they’re fabulous. There’s a history of cancer in my family, so I do the self-checks regularly to be sure.)
Not so long ago, women were told they needed to scrub their nipples with washcloths and whatnot to “toughen” the nipples before breastfeeding. Doesn’t do a damn bit of good, actually, but given that some initial soreness is common, I can see how it came about. So this might be a similar thing.
The only other idea I can come up with (aside from the aesthetic one OneCentStamp so eloquently extols) is that it was an attempt to correct inverted or flat nipples before breastfeeding, by getting them to stand at attention daily. I actually don’t know if inverted nipples go high-beam in the cold, though.
In any case, I’d imagine only the aesthetic purpose would have any actual efficacy. 
My darling son has inverted nipples. Literally his little nipples are inside-out. It has to be very. very. very cold for his to get hard, but they do. Most of the time, though he looks like he has 3 belly buttons – the normal one, then the two smaller ones higher up – all innies.
The links on the wikipedia page were actually quite educational for me, seeing as my sex-education in school was “Abstinence or God hates you!” (well not literally that, but you get the point.)
I find myself oddly tempted to edit the page, then revert my changes, then edit, then revert… You know, just play around with it.
Enjoy,
Steven